Wheat Woes on May 3, 2024Months after a witty, holier-than-thou, jack-of-all-trades caretaker government retreated from the executive, repeated horrors from their tenure keep raising ugly heads; emphasising all that the cliche implies. The latest to hit the soundwaves is the backbreaking burden of almost three million tonnes of wheat imported by the Punjab interim government in full knowledge of the […]
Modi’s Tricks on May 3, 2024For all those hoping to see matured Pak-India relations enter a new chapter of normalisation, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unfounded accusation must have come as a great shock. While the ruling BJP is known to always pull out the anti-Pakistan card whenever it sniffs trouble, a lower turnout and an overall lack of momentum […]
Pandora’s Box on May 2, 2024We may have seen public displays of the judiciary split down the middle before but the stakes have never been this high. As the honourable higher judiciary finds itself standing at a crossroads, there’s no telling what the pandora’s box will reveal next. A month after a letter from six Islamabad judges addressed to the […]
Sectarian Attack on May 2, 2024Peace remains an elusive dream in Afghanistan as a team of three armed men stormed into a mosque belonging to the minority Shia community and decided to mow down at least six civilians, injuring several others. The fact that a local elder and a three-year-old were among those wiped off the face of this earth […]
Political Engineering on May 1, 2024In a much-albeit delayed development, the National Accountability Bureau has decided to withdraw the reference against former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. Six years after the accountability watchdog had alleged a blatant misuse of public office that had caused loss to the tune of Rs 21 billion to the national exchequer, the validity of the […]
More Floods on May 1, 2024Not long ago, a flood of biblical proportions had wiped away thousands of houses across Balochistan, Pakistan’s most undernourished province that has lately been reduced to a sitting duck thanks to minimum infrastructure and a majority living in mud houses. Today, when powerful spells of rain have become a living reality as the region continues […]
New Twist on April 30, 2024Some habits die hard. After enjoying a game-changing role in Pakistani politics for decades on end, which had little to do with his actual mandate on the ground, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman seems to be having a hard time adjusting to the new pecking order. On Monday, he stood before the National Assembly in […]
What’s Next, Mr Sharifs? on April 30, 2024More than one news cycle has passed after a strange cabinet appointment notification hit the airwaves on a Sunday, that too when both the premier and the intended beneficiary were not even in the country, but the frenzy appears far from settled. The decision to elevate Dar to this significant position has raised questions about […]
Mr Deputy PM on April 29, 2024Zulfikar Ali Bhutto; Begum Nusrat Bhutto; Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, and now, Ishaq Dar. That four political masterminds have, at some, point willingly chosen a seemingly ceremonial and, more importantly, extra-constitutional position of deputy prime minister cannot be a sheer coincidence. Interestingly in 2012, Mr Elahi’s appointment notification had plain-facetdly quoted, “This shall not confer upon […]
Missed Opportunity on April 29, 2024In stark contrast to expectations from the eagerly-awaited Asma Jahangir Conference, the annual symposium made rounds on social media not only for its discussions on important human rights issues but also due to the uproar of protestors voicing their discontent. A furious German Ambassador, after his speech was unexpectedly interrupted by a pro-Palestine protester, showcasing […]